


The Giving Tree

by Tvieandli



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-26
Updated: 2013-01-26
Packaged: 2017-11-26 22:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/655069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tvieandli/pseuds/Tvieandli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s an ancient apple tree on the grounds, far enough away from the house to not actually be properly maintained at all times. Bruce doesn’t know it, but that’s Damian’s favorite place. It’s where he goes when things are bad, and he wants to get away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Giving Tree

There’s an ancient apple tree on the grounds, far enough away from the house to not actually be properly maintained at all times. Bruce doesn’t know it, but that’s Damian’s favorite place. It’s where he goes when things are bad, and he wants to get away.  
He and Dick have spent countless summer hours under that tree, cradled in her branches. At one point Damian had decided that she was The Giving Tree, and he’d carved their names into her trunk when he thought Dick wasn’t looking.  
He didn’t surround it with a heart, no. He just wrote their names side by side, as if that were the most normal thing to do. Dick had been the one to carve “The Giving Tree” in above those little names.  
They’re still there. Something the two of them shared, that Damian cherishes more than he’ll say. In his mind, he and Dick will be forever lounging in the shade of that tree, trading insults, and laughing at one another, as they climb through it’s branches.  
Dick knows the minute he shows up, and hears that Damian’s been “missing” for a day and a half, that the boy undoubtedly took a sleeping bag, and crashed in the shade, probably living off the apples. He smiles, and promises to bring Damian home, before casually walking out the back door.  
Sure enough, Damian’s there, throwing pebbles at the old, rotten apples in the upper branches, and humming softly to himself. He’s taller. A full year taller. Twelve years old, and still growing. Dick stops a moment to marvel at the change, at the similarity.  
“Hey there, kiddo,” he says, noticing the sleeping bag, and the backpack set up next to a lantern, and a jar filled with fireflies.  
Damian shoots him a look, and throws another pebble.  
“Oh come on, don’t give me the silent treatment. Tell me what’s up.”  
Damian sighs, and even if he’s facing away, Dick knows that he’s rolling his eyes. He chuckles in his throat, and Damian looks at him over his shoulder.  
“What’s so funny?” he asks sharply.  
“Nothing. I just missed you. Missed this,” he says, gesturing toward The Giving Tree. “Hey, can I have an apple?”  
Damian drops his hands to his sides, and stalks over to his backpack, leaning in, and pulling out a beautifully red apple. He wipes it on his shirt before handing it to Dick, and taking another one for himself.  
Damian gestures for him to take a seat on the sleeping bag, and Dick does, leaning against the tree. Damian sits beside him, leaning in so that he’s supported by Dick’s body. Dick drapes his arm over Damian’s chest easily, and they sit there, eating their apples, as if nothing’s changed.  
Only Damian’s taller, and his little red sneakers are new instead of the worn ones he had ripped on the rough bark, and he’s wearing Jason’s hand-me-down yellow shirt and kaki shorts.  
Dick rubs Damian’s stomach, and Damian lays down with his head in his lap, staring up into his face.  
“Are you leaving again?” he asks. His hand hangs limply at his side, apple half eaten, and dripping it’s juices onto the ground.  
Dick smiles down at him. “I don’t think so. I’ve got nowhere to be, and writing isn’t a very demanding job.”  
Damian almost smiles, adjusting so that he’s more comfortable, and rolling onto his side.  
“I wish you’d come home sooner,” he says, staring at his apple.  
Dick laughs a bit. “I’m sorry, Little D. I’ll make it up. Starting right now, okay. I’m not leaving again. Promise.”  
Dick see’s Damian’s cheek push out with the force of his smile.  
“I love you, Little D,” he says, and he pretends that he doesn’t hear it, when the sentiment is almost silently echoed back at him.  
“I love you too, Grayson.”


End file.
